The Great Ground Vote - THE FINAL
After 34 votes (well done all!) we are down to the 35th vote, and the final! Well done to both of these clubs and grounds, and their reward for making it this far is a whopping six photos each.
We have generally not got more than about 70 votes per round, so this will run as long as needed for either ground to have an unassailable lead based around that number. If the uptake is strong and it is still close around 70, I will announce an actual day and time for a vote close.
Thanks to all you Gasroomers for sticking with these through a month of voting! Thanks also to Mikheil and the new owners for kindly waiting to more or less the end of the vote before kicking summer activities into gear - they know what really matters!
The Great Ground Vote - FINAL
- Which of these two grounds should win the final of the Great Ground vote?80 votes
- Hillsborough - Sheffield Wednesday35.00%
- Villa Park - Aston Villa65.00%
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Comments
As this is the final round, I'll also ask - what makes your voted ground better than the other one architecturally?
I will say there is clearly a common thread running between these two:
I generally voted for Palace as that's my wife's team. Then Leyton Orient for sad memories.
These two leave me cold.
The F.A. Cup semi was the single proudest occasion of my Wycombe supporting life and the culmination of a truly magical run.
Hillsborough is a wonderful old stadium and would be worthy winner in any neutral’s competition, but Villa Park, you’ve given us our greatest day, one I’ll never forget.
This one’s for the marauding Jason Cousins furiously berating a terrified looking Micheal Owen.
Another question - for those of you who would not have had these finalists, what would your final have been?
I think mine would have been something like Craven Cottage v Kirklees (Huddersfield) with Fratton Park and The Valley as semi-finalists.
Villa for me, but that's only because I haven't been to SWFC. Villa of course I have been to twice to see WWFC. 🤷♂️
Two worthy finalists.
Wouldn't have had either of these in the final, but of the 2, Villa for me
Glad Villa Park made it to the final. Adams Park aside it's my favourite ground. I just think it's a beautiful ground inside and out. Modernised but still awash with character and elegance.
Plus of course, memories of that great, ultimately heartbreaking day out. Never felt prouder to be a Wycombe fan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6-IQAdFU3w&pp=ygUdeW91J3JlIGpva2luZyBub3QgYW5vdGhlciBvbmU%3D
Very worthy finalists, Hillsborough shades it for me for the pointy roof bit. Beautiful.
Orient, Palace and Fulham would have been my other favourites for the final.
Villa for me, more aesthetically pleasing.
Not as nice as Falmouth Town, Trefelin BGC or Hitchin Town, mind.
If i had to choose my favourite ground that wasn't AP, it'd be hard not to go with Top Field.
Hitchen Town now that brings back some memories of my early away trips. To think since then we have played competitive games at so many wonderful stadiums (both old and new) including both the finalists in this Gasroom "competition". A true reminder of how far we have come in the last 40 or so years. That said I still enjoy a nostalgic trip to the likes of Accrington Stanley.
great photos - thanks, @Hopping_Wanderer.
I voted for Villa.
Having been to most of the grounds I voted based on how enjoyable I actually find being in them, it’s “character” and what it offers as an away day. That’s why my personal favourite remains The Valley.
Ahhh love Falmouth Town ! Got family down there, and if I ever decide I've had enough and decide to join them, that place would be my new live Footie fix
Has anyone been to The Dripping Pan? That looks like such a lovely ground.
Yes, some years ago, you won't find many more characterful grounds. In a natural bowl, with a steep home terrace behind the goal, adjacent to the famous garden sheds used as 'executive boxes'.
Lewes is an interesting town with a 'heathen' feel about it. The layout of the railway station is interesting as well!
Cheers mate! I would love to see it.
I love the wooden terracing at Hitchin, so rare now, a bit slippery in the wet. Trying to think of other wooden terracing I have stood on, the railway sleepers at the old Wokingham Town ground come to mind.
@Steve_Peart Didn't Layer Road have wooden terracing in the away end the first few times we played there?
Yup. The whole terrace would move up and down when everyone was ‘rhubarbing’.
I seem to remember that Wolverton (not surprisingly) had railway sleepers for terracing
Good call, @NewburyWanderer and @Lloyd2084.
Sure you're right @bookertease, I can only remember standing on a grass bank for the B & B Final. That wonderful 1899 stand was demolished in 2006, after being vandalised, and replaced by a strange lookalike shed.
Voted for Villa Park, primarily because I find the entrance to the Holte End truly impressive. Walking up those steps to enter the ground really feels like entering something special.
Well, the vote will obviously run until it naturally comes to a halt, but with a 40-20 lead in votes, it is pretty obvious that Villa Park is the winner. Well done to Aston Villa for having such an iconic stadium! Thanks again to everyone for voting!
Cheers for putting the polls together @Shev - lots of fun.
Gasroom off-season would be unbearable without @Shev
Thanks for the kind words, @MindlessDrugHoover and @drcongo.